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Wednesday, February 20, 2008

For starters, they are not fruit.. Much as many might classify them as such..

And as a fruitarian, I try to avoid eating the seed of a plant, unless it is so intricately entwined with the fruit itself, that eating it together with the fruit is pretty unavoidable. (as is the case with pomegranate, tomato, passion fruit, kiwi, etc etc). In these cases, I see the seed as ultimately benefiting from or profiting through being swallowed unavoidably whole, as the digestion process will actually help kick start whatever enzymes are in the seed needed to get it germinating. Thus the deal is symbiotic for both us, and the plant.

However, there are other reasons too..

You may not be aware of this, but I believe all natural fresh ripe and ready foods eaten mono on an empty stomach, have what a group in France have christened an "instinctive stop"..

I've studied their philosophy somewhat (more on that in another blog entry), and certainly can't say that I am in agreement with it in it's entirety, but certainly there are aspects of it that are worthy of consideration.. The instinctive stop being one such item..

The instinctive stop is recognisable through a change in flavour.. It can bring on tingling sensations, or burning sensations, or just subtle changes in flavour of the fruit, rendering the fruit in question no longer as appealing as it was at the beginning of the (mono) meal..

An easy example of this, that you are probably already familiar with, is the burning sensation you might get if you eat too much pineapple.. That is your body telling you "Stop!.. Don't eat anymore.. that is enough now.."..

But the "stop" may be more subtle.. it may just be that whatever it is you are eating, suddenly becomes less appealing to you. Listen to these signs, as your body is telling you in it's own way, that it is finished with that now..

Compare this with any cooked food, - there is no instinctive stop with cooked or processed foods.. Eat chocolate, and your body will scream out insatiably "more more!".. It is easy to push things over the limit, overdo things, and consequently render yourself sick.. In fact, the intellect has to kick in and say "That's enough now! Break it up", because if it doesn't, the intellect knows the consequences..

But that's not how it should be.. The body should always be the one that decides..

On a fruit diet (keeping things simple and not over mixing as many raw fooders habitually do), you are safe to keep eating until the foods appeals no more.. There is no chance of putting on weight, or making yourself sick through over eating (provided the fruit is truly fresh, ripe and ready to eat without bruises or mold).

So.. Back to the nuts.. Did you know that pretty much ALL commercially available nuts are heat treated. I can think of no exception...

As such, there is no "instinctive stop" with nuts.. And your body will crave the addictiveness of them, thus be unable to truthfully tell you that enough is enough..

There have been times that I have found and eaten freshly fallen nuts directly from under the tree. These are commonly called "wet nuts" (due to them still being fresh and moist and soft), and they differ tremendously from the commercially available "dry nuts".. I can honestly report, that after eating 2 or 3 "wet" walnuts, I got a clear recognisable feeling of taste change, and the food became unappealing, just as it is supposed to.

Drawing from another experience, I think it was Christmas 2001, I was working night shift at the post office sorting department. Throughout much of the day I slept, and late afternoon, evening, with it being too cold outside (this is back in the UK, snow on the ground etc.etc.) I minimized my shopping and thought I'd sustain myself on predominantly nuts. I think I must have devoured about half a kilo of nuts (weight with the shells) every day for 2 weeks..

The consequence, I made myself sick sick sick.. My body struggled to cleanse itself, and basically knocked me out for about 3 weeks.

Great information and so true I eat mostly mono fruit meals but will mix papayas with other non sweet fruits.I agree about the nuts hard to digest so I dont eat them I prefer avocados or durian over the nuts.

Yay I am so happy to read this. so when you go to the supermarket and they say "Raw nuts" those arent raw? or does it have to come straight from the tree then and there? anyways either way nuts always made me stressful. i would always feel like i ate too many even if I had a small handful. My family refused to eat them because we all got bloated/gassy from them. Ive cut out all greens by the way because ive had the same "non-instinctive stop" from them. steamed vegeteables is even worse. especially cruciferous like cabbage, cauliflower, and broccoli. fruit is the only food that is "food" for us. in which we can nourish but not over indulge. You are my Guru Mango.

Kiwi, yes, you read that right.. they may call them raw nuts, but that is never the case.. They are as "raw" as dried fruit is raw.. Especially so if the nuts have had their shells removed. As for dried fruit, I would say the same thing.. there is no instinctive stop, and it is as if the fruit has been cooked.

Of course, the trouble with nuts is manifold, the wet nuts have risk of some fungal infection too, and often wild nuts you might find, might be dried on the tree, or on the ground, through sunlight, thus will no longer be fresh either..

I am told cashew nuts are especially heat treated before becomming commercially available, (due to some otherwise potentially hazardous toxin on the surface of the nut)..

Hi Sun-Rose,no, my mail should still be the same as before.. you can always try sending me an email via the form on fruitnut.net (look for the email me age).. i don't know why it didn't work.Yes, I was aware of the pasteurization of nuts too. Crazy isn't it?!regards,Mango.

Hey, now that the warmer weather is finally catching up with us, we should think about arrange a time/day for us to meet and spend some time together on the beach.. Kveta and I have already had a few beach days, accompanied by quick refreshing dips in the cold sea..- Good stuff.

We're currently just drinking orange juice..

Let us know when the time is right for you, and we can all meet up somewhere..

FatHer,sorry it's taken me so long to reply, must have missed your comments before.. I just want to add that there is raw, and then there is raw, and despite whatever the sources you quote say, I stand by that there is no way that they are being sold fully naturally raw.. They have surely been heat treated in some fashion..

Nice Mango,it is ever useful of earing of your experience, inspire me so much! I want to ask you if coconut can be considered "semi-fresh" fruit and not driet fruit as nuts, as when you open it is indeed raw!I like very much coconut expecially in summer time, like my favorite ones: the melons (orange and white cantalupe) and, in this very period, the cherries.And what about figs and prunes (dried)? Does they leading addictions?

hi yogasunfire..well.. yes.. a fresh coconut is fresh.. no doubt about that.. but hard nuts bought in a european/non tropical environment supermarket, are hardly the same thing..i've eaten a lot of fresh coconuts, and all things considered, they are a reasonable food.. however, not a fruit, and ultimately not part of a fruitarian diet.. but that's just my choice..

as for figs and prunes.. dried.. they are processed foods and void of any "instinctive stop".. not ideal foods, but again, in the grand scheme of things, far from the worst.. but still addictive..

European gardens do have walnut and hazelnut trees where they are available in season. There is no need to stuff yourselves with nuts. For me the diet of a fruitarians is too watery and boring. So what do you do for fun?